sbidel



(No Model.)

' W. SEIDEL.

SHOE FASTENING.

Patent ed Feb. 8, 1887-.

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UNITED STATES FFICE.

PATENT CHARLES E. W. sEIDEL, OF NEw YoRK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR or ONE-FOURTH TO CHARLES SEIDEL, or SAME PLACE.

SHOE-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,541, dated February 8, 1887.

- Application filed September 20, 1886. Serial No. 213,984.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. W. SEIDEL, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shoe-Fastenings, of

which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of shoefastenings which consist of a series of clamps or slides secured to a strap at intervals in its length, and engaging with strips or flanges ex tending along the edges of the side portions of the shoe-upper on opposite sides of. the instepopening, said clamps serving to close the -shoe by being slid upward over theinstep and to release the side portions and permit the shoe to be taken off by being slid to the lower end of the instep-opening.

Theinvention consists in novelcombinations of parts, hereinafter particularly described,

and pointed out in the claims.

In the,accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front View of the side portions of a shoe-upper having my fasteners applied thereto and showing the sliding clamps as adjusted to close the shoe. Fig. 2 is a similar view representing all the clamps as pushed downward to the bottom of the side portions of the upper and to the lower end of the instep-opening in order to loosen the shoe. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the plane of the dotted linear 00, Fig. 1, upon a larger scale; and Figs. 4 and 5 are corresponding sections upon the planes, respectively, of the dotted lines y y and z z,

i Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures. A A designate the two side portions of the shoe-upper, which are on opposite sides of the 'ins'tep'opening, and which have secured to them,near their edges, strips B, as is best shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. I prefer to make such strips 13 of leather or analogous yielding and comparatively soft material, and the strips may be permanently secured to the outer faces of the side portions, A, by lines or rows of stitching, leaving the outer edges of the strips or those edges most distant from the instepopening free and slightly raised from the side portions, A.

The side portions of the shoe are drawn and held together in order to close the shoe about (No model.)

the foot by means of a series of sliding clamps, 0, each of which embraces both strips B and has its ends hooked to engage with the free outer or raised edges of the strips B, as shown, 5 5 for example, in Fig. 3. lhave in Fig. 1 shown several different forms of these clamps, all of them being upon one shoe, for the purpose of illustration; but it will be understood that in practiceiall the clamps employed upon a shoe will be of the same construction, save, perhaps, that the clamp which is uppermost and which comes nearest to'the top of the shoe may have wings or'projecting portions 0, for a purpose hereinafter described. The ends of the clamps G are hooked or turned inward, as represented at c, and engage with the free outer edges of the strips B, and the several clamps O are secured at proper intervals apart to a band or strap, D, which may be of leather,web- 7o bing, or other suitable material. Y

The clamps may each consist of a single flat strip or piece of metal, as shown in Fig. 4:, having its ends 0 hooked or turned in, and this clamp may be conveniently secured to the band or strap D by slitting the band or strap at the points d and inserting the body of the clamp transversely across under the central portion between the slits and over the portions outside of the slits, the clamp being secured by a rivet, d, or not, as desired. I may also, if desired, make the clamps 0 adjustable in length, as best shown in Fig. 3, such clamp being composed of two like members or sections, 0 which are overlapped at their ends and secured together by a clamping-screw, 0 said screw passing through a slot in one section and engaging a threaded hole in the other section. This construction provides for adjusting the two sections of the clamp toward and from each other, 0 in order to vary its length, and after adjustment the two sections may be clamped one on another, in order to maintain the desired fixed length of the clamp. In some cases the clamp C may consist of short sections or pieces 0*, 5 having their ends hooked, as at c, and secured to the band or strap D near opposite edges thereof, as shown in Fig. 5.

The clamps C may be readily and entirely disconnected from the strips B when the shoe I00 is ofi by simply moving the side portions, A, inward, so that they will overlap one another;

and hence it follows that whenever it is desired to clean or blacken the shoe the entire series of clamps O, with their connecting band or strap D, may be entirely removed from the shoe, save for the connection of the lower end of said band or strap with the shoe. \Vhen it is desired to open or remove the shoe from the foot, the clamps are all slid downward along the strips B by the hand applied to the top clamp G, which has the wings or finger-rests 0. By pushing downward upon said top clamp, the clamps are picked up or set in motion one after another, and finally all are gathered or slid into close juxtaposition at the bottom of the instep-opening. When in such position, the wings or projecting portions 0 of the top clamp approximately cover the remaining clamps of the series, as is shown in Fig. 2, and thereby enhances the appearance of the fastener. These wings or projecting portions 0 also serve as finger-rests when the upper end portion of the strap or band is taken hold of by the thumb and fiugerto adjust all the clamps from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 1.

It is advantageous to have the strips B of leather secured to the outer faces of the side portions, A, at their edges, and to construct each clamp C so that it will embrace both strips B and be engaged therewith by its hooked ends engaging the free outer edges of the two strips, but having no other engagement with the strips, because there will then be no projection of the strips or clamps upon or beyond the inner surfaces of the side portions, and hence the clamps will not, in their adjustment, bear upon the foot, nor will said clamps embed themselves into the flesh when the shoe is worn. It is also advantageous to have the strips B of plain flat form and continuous from end to end, because they project but little from the outer surfaces of the portions A, and the clamps O can lie close to their faces, and hence project so little from the side portions, A, that the trousers will not catch on them. Hence my strips B, applied to the outer faces of the portions A and made continuous from end to end, are more desirable than a series of metal hooks arranged close together upon the side portions, and with which arevcrsed hook or clamp engages. The clamps C have no engagement with the strips B, save the engagementof their hooked ends with the outer edges of the strips or with those edges which are most distant from the instep-opening, and hence the clamps can be disengaged from the strips at any time when the shoe is off the foot, to afford convenient provision for cleaning or blaeking the shoe.

I am not aware of any arrangement of What I claim as my invention, and desire u to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the side portions, A, of a shoe, of the leather strips B, secured to the outer faces of the portions A, and having plain or tlat outer surfaces and free outer edges to form flanges raised from the portions A and made continuous from end to end, a series of clamps, 0, each embracing both strips and having its opposite ends hooked or turned inward to engage the free outer edges of the strips, but having no other engagement therewith, whereby provision is afforded for readily disengaging them from the strips when the shoe is off the foot, to enable the shoe to be blacked or cleaned, and the band or strap D, to which the clamps are attached at intervals in its length, so that they may be gathered or brought into close proximity at the bottom ofthe instep-opening when the shoe is to be removed, and which is secured at thelower end of theinstepopening, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with the side portions, A, of a shoe, of strips B, secured to the outer faces thereof and having free outer edges, and sliding clamps 0, each embracing both strips B and having hooked ends engaging the free edges of the strips and made each of two sections having an adjustable connection, whereby said sections may be positively secured at different distances apart to vary the length of the clamp between its hooked ends, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, with the side portions of ash oe,of strips B,secured to thefaces thereof, a series of sliding clamps, 0, each embracing both strips, and having hooked ends engaging the free outer edges of the strips, and a band or strap to which the clamps are secured at intervals in itslength, the clamp-at the upper end of the series having projecting portions or wings a, which constitute finger-rests for adjusting the clamps of the series, and which cover the clamps when brought close together in opening the shoe,substantially as herein de- I I0 scribed.

CHARLES F. W. SEIDEL.

Vitnesses:

G. HALL, G. BECK. 

